Imagen 4 Fast vs Ideogram 4.0 Turbo
Google's Imagen 4 Fast and Ideogram's Ideogram 4.0 Turbo both target image generation, but they price and behave differently. Here is the side-by-side.
Pricing checked against provider documentation on . How we verify
The short answer
Imagen 4 Fast is the cheaper option — roughly 1.5x less on a blended workload, and it suits cheapest speed-first generation. Ideogram 4.0 Turbo justifies its premium when you need legible text inside images.
Google • Imagen 4
$0.02 / $
/ image (input / output)
Google's efficiency tier for image generation, aimed at high-volume pipelines where throughput matters more than the last increment of quality. Fine for thumbnails, placeholders, and drafts; step up to the Gemini image models when typography or compositing is the point.
Ideogram • Ideogram 4
$0.03 / $
/ image (input / output)
Ideogram's differentiator is typography: text rendered into an image that stays readable and correctly spelled, which most diffusion models still handle badly. If your output needs a logo, a sign, a poster headline, or packaging copy, this is the specialist worth testing first.
Input price
Ideogram 4.0 Turbo is 50% more expensive than Imagen 4 Fast on input tokens.
Specification comparison
| Attribute | Imagen 4 Fast | Ideogram 4.0 Turbo |
|---|---|---|
| Input (/ image) | $0.02 | $0.03 |
| Output (/ image) | — | — |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Context window | — | — |
| Max output | — | — |
| Native reasoning | No | No |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — |
| Relative latency | low | low |
| Open weights | No | No |
| API model ID | imagen-4.0-fast-generate-001 | ideogram-v4-turbo |
| Status | stable | stable |
Imagen 4 Fast: 1K resolution.
Choose Imagen 4 Fast if…
- High-volume thumbnails
- Draft and placeholder imagery
- Rapid prompt iteration
- Catalogue and listing images
Choose Ideogram 4.0 Turbo if…
- Posters and social graphics with text
- Logo and wordmark exploration
- Packaging and label mockups
- Ad creative with headlines
Frequently asked
Is Imagen 4 Fast or Ideogram 4.0 Turbo cheaper?
Imagen 4 Fast is cheaper. On a blended 3:1 input-to-output workload it costs about 1.5x less than Ideogram 4.0 Turbo.
Which has the larger context window, Imagen 4 Fast or Ideogram 4.0 Turbo?
Both accept up to — tokens, so context is not a differentiator here.
Should I use Imagen 4 Fast or Ideogram 4.0 Turbo?
Pick Imagen 4 Fast for cheapest speed-first generation. Pick Ideogram 4.0 Turbo for legible text inside images. If cost dominates the decision, Imagen 4 Fast wins; if you need the capability ceiling, benchmark both on your own evals before committing.